You deal from a position of strength. And you don’t sweat the criticism.

Both are something Detroit Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski learned a long time ago.

All along, the Tigers have maintained that they’d like to move one of their surplus of starting pitchers, and they found a trade partner in the Washington Nationals, on Monday sending 29-year-old Doug Fister in a package for three younger players.

“We thought, for us, it was a move that made sense. It gives us some flexibility to do some other things we wanted to do,” Dombrowski said in a conference call after the completion of the trade Monday. “We were in a position where, if the right trade came along in our minds, we’d make the deal. ... We feel our starting depth at this time allowed us to make the deal.”

The Tigers certainly did have starter depth, with six guys — counting Drew Smyly — for five spots. It was assumed that No. 5 starter Rick Porcello would be the odd man out, although Max Scherzer was a popular choice, given the finances of a Scott Boras client entering his walk year.

In the end, it was neither.

Now, it gives the Tigers one lefty in the rotation — Smyly — another in the bullpen in Krol, and a third on the doorstep of the big leagues in Ray — the Nationals’ No. 5 prospect at the end of the season, according to Baseball America — to replace some of the pitching depth the Tigers had traded away over the last few years.

“For us to make the deal, we thought it was imperative to get a quality young pitcher back,” said Dombrowski, who admitted that the slew of starters brought in by way of the draft over the past few seasons aren’t close enough to help, just yet. “We think Robbie Ray gives us a guy sitting at Triple-A, waiting to help us, if need be.”

It also gives the Tigers what Dombrowski called a “super-utility guy” in Lombardozzi, someone who can fill in at on the infield or at second base, effectively ending the Tigers career of backup Ramon Santiago. Dombrowski called Santiago’s agent Monday to confirm as much.

Krol will be in the mix for the primary lefty spot in the bullpen vacated by Smyly’s move to the rotation.

But Dombrowski doesn’t blame anyone for the collective reaction of ‘Who?’ to the deal. He’s been through that before.

It’s much the same as when the Tigers swung a trade after the 2009 season to send away the popular Curtis Granderson (and Edwin Jackson), and get Scherzer, Austin Jackson and Phil Coke in return.

“It’s not the first time that’s happened to me. I talk about that all the time, the lesson I learned a long time ago, as a young person in baseball, from Roland Hemond that said you have to be prepared,” he said.

“It was when we traded Lamar Hoyt after the 1984 season for a young guy by the name of Ozzie Guillen, who was the key person of the trade. The media and the fans were all questionable about it. I remember asking Roland about it at the time, as a young person in the game, and he said ‘For as long as I’ve been in the game ... and for as long as you’ll be in the game, anytime you trade the known for the unknown, it’s not a popular deal. But that’s your responsibility, and you have to take what’s associated with it,’ ” Dombrowski recalled.

“That deal turned out well for us at the time, and others have turned out well, too. It’s just part of the equation of being a general manager of a Major League Baseball team. Anytime you trade a guy who’s a solid big-league performer, you anticipate that. Doesn’t mean you don’t make the deals, because you have to do what you believe is the right thing, too.”

Dombrowski had already pulled off one blockbuster this season, sending Prince Fielder to Texas in exchange for Ian Kinsler. He went outside the box to hire a manager with zero experience in Brad Ausmus.

Now he’s made a trade that looked — to some — like a salary dump.

He insists it’s not.

It won’t make it any more or less likely that the Tigers will try to re-sign Scherzer, who becomes a free agent after next season.

But it might allow them to make that move and another.

“We’re not cutting payroll. ... We’re still going to have a high payroll. ... We’re not done at this time,” Dombrowski said. “It’s Dec. 2. We're not done for the wintertime, necessarily.”

Adding Krol helps the bullpen, but there’s still at least one more piece to be added there — if not more.

“Well, we hope to get a closer. That’s one thing we want to do. That’s our No. 1 need at this point,” Dombrowski said. “First and foremost, we're looking for a closer, then we'll go from there.”

Matthew B. Mowery covers the Tigers for Digital First Media. Read his “Out of Left Field” blog at opoutofleftfield.blogspot.com.